CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

One of the major pillars of marketing is the provision of goods and services to satisfy the needs and wants of the consumer data profit to the firm. Thus the provision of product for the satisfaction of the consumer or customer is the focus of marketing thereby making product a fundamental tool of marketing. But Ebue (1990:1) stated that if your product, package it brilliantly, price it, rightly distribute it well and position it to best meet the needs of customer you must have wasted all the marteting skills if nobody knows you have those things. your customers will only know through promotional activities.

it becomes imperative that a firm must not only create high quality goods that meets the expectations of the target market but tell success story. That is disseminate information about the product attributed  and benefits to the target market. Adirika, Ebue and Nnolim (2006:35), see promotion as the component used by the organization to inform, educate and persuade the market regarding the company’s offerings:- advertising, personal selling sales promotion, publicity and public relations are the major variable of promotional tools.

The myopic thinking in Nigeria, that the money spent in promotional activities is a waste should not crop up at all although, we are operating in a seller market where companies can sell their goods and service even without adequacy promotion. There is no guarantee that such a situation will continue forever. Promotion like distribution is one of the elements of the firm marketing mix and it seeks to inform the public of the availability of goods and services and their communication and those in consumption. The need for product promotion can often persuade and so can be a useful means to a desirable social change if well utilized.

Modern marketing companies are increasing, recognizing the value of an effective communication and promotion programme for their entire  public. This include beverage industries for sometimes now is very lucrative, this has brought so many beverage industries into their market, thus leading to competition beverage industries should pay adequate attention to the issues that involve decision making in designing an appropriate promotion strategies for survival. it is because of the importance of promotion not only as tool for information the company that the research tries to examine the impact of promotional activities on marketing product.

1.2      STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Here, many consumers do not patronize a company’s product when they are ignorant of its existence.